


Corporate Holidays and Acoustic Guitars

by Digitized



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M, Humanstuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-23
Updated: 2012-06-23
Packaged: 2017-11-08 08:50:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/441390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Digitized/pseuds/Digitized
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karkat just wants to be left alone on Valentines day, Nepeta finds him too interesting to let him be. (Humanstuck fluff)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Corporate Holidays and Acoustic Guitars

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this around Valentine's Day, figured I'd throw it on here.
> 
> Kind of proud of it!

Karkat Vantas hated Valentine’s Day.

Contrary to popular belief, he did not hate it simply because he had no one to share it with. No, even when he had been involved with someone, the holiday was simply an irritant. Something that almost seemed to _stain_ the relationship he had been in at the time. It was a way for corporate America to reach its disgusting claws into a pure relationship and suck resources out of it; time, money, the works.

This day was precisely the reason that he, instead of going out for a stroll like he normally would when extremely annoyed, was sitting in front of his hotel room door, plucking the strings of his neglected acoustic guitar. “Need to find my tuner…” He muttered to himself absently with a frown; talented musician he was, but he could never quite properly tune anything by ear. It was a curse. In the loads of boxes he had unpacked from the move he hadn’t been able to find his tuner and, honestly, he didn’t feel like forking over the few bucks for a new one. Call him sentimental, but he just was attached to his old one.

After a good ten minutes of fiddling with his E string, everything finally seemed to be coming together. A rare smile of triumph graced his lips and he began to play. Nothing in particular, of course, he was simply warming up. Ah, yes. He loved this instrument. Of course, he’d prefer his bass to a regular old guitar any day, but this acoustic was special to him. Karkat hummed a small tune to himself, taking delight in strumming a few errant chords and looking out over the railing.

So engrossed was he that the door next to his opening did not capture his attention until, “Hey, Karkitty!” Nepeta Leijon stood at her oh so imposing 4’11’’, looking down at him curiously. “What are you doing?”

He stopped abruptly, looking up at her. Instead of informing her once again that he didn’t enjoy the nickname she had bestowed upon him, he simply rolled his eyes. “What does it look like, Leijon?” He lifted the guitar in his arms a little higher for emphasis. “Beat it; I’m trying to blow over this shitty holiday.”

Not one to be deterred, she plopped herself right down next to him. Curiously, she eyed his instrument and looked up at him, the difference in their height now ridiculously evident. It was no stretch of words to say that Karkat towered over her, but it didn’t seem to bother her in the least. “Have a problem with Valentine’s Day?” The girl didn’t sound surprised and it was much more of a statement than a question. “Come on, even if you don’t like it there’s no reason to spend it alone!”

He snorted, strumming a bit before replying. “Nothing wrong with being alone, especially if you’re comfortable, but if you want to stick around then whatever. Just don’t bother me; I’m trying to _enjoy_ myself.” Even if he wouldn’t admit it, Karkat was honestly glad for the company. Though he did not think there was anything specifically wrong with being alone, he always enjoyed playing for others more than just playing for himself.

For a while they were both silent. Nepeta watched, almost mystified, as his fingers danced over the strings with grace and dexterity and fought the urge to request a song. Needless to say, she wasn’t able to resist it for very long. “Karkat,” She began with his real name, hoping it would garner enough approval for him to actually listen. “Do you think you could… maybe… take a request?”

Karkat’s eyes flicked to her, mouth already opening to say no, but he paused. It was her face that did it. Her expression was so sickeningly sweet, he just couldn’t refuse outright. He said nothing for more than a few moments, fingers forming chords but not actually strumming. “Fine. As long as it’s not something stupid, I guess I could humor you.”

With his luck and her cat obsession he would probably wind up playing something like that ridiculous Kitty Cat Dance or Nyan Ca— “Uh, will you play ‘You Are My Sunshine’? It’s appropriate for today, I think!” She cut off his train of thought and he looked surprised for a moment before covering it up.

“You could’ve requested worse.” Karkat muttered, giving her the win before gathering the tune up in his head. Within moments he’d begun and his voice, rough and scratchy but still pleasant, accompanied the tune.

Truly, he wasn’t the best singer, but he wasn’t awful. It was hard to place. Nepeta decided, with a yawn, that it would probably be better with practice. Not that it bothered her; in fact, it was lulling her right to sleep. This song was a lullaby, wasn’t it…?

The guitarist finished, looking at his left shoulder to see his neighbor now leaning on it. Asleep? He rolled his eyes and moved his shoulder, propping her up just a tad more securely before continuing to mess with his instrument.

Karkat figured he could get over his hate for Valentine’s Day just this year.


End file.
